Yes, I Rode That!

On Monday afternoon, I did something I'd never done before.

I rode what's called the "Zipper" at the .

This ride, the Zipper, may sound harmless. It may even look harmless. But it's actually the scariest, most nauseating experience one could imagine at a fair. According to Wikipedia, the Zipper "features strong vertical G-forces, numerous spins, and a noted sense of unpredictability."

It started when my brother, who came down from Napa to attend the fair with me, decided he wanted to ride the Zipper. He pulled me—yes, pulled me—toward the ride and up to the entrance.

"Let's go!" he proclaimed and handed over five tickets.

"No way," I said. "I'll take pictures down here, you go on."

But he wouldn't give up. And for those who haven't met my brother, here's how hard he is to resist. Imagine the sweetest, silliest, happiest guy in the world (he also has Asperger's syndrome) trying to convince an old fart (me) to join him on a ride that he promised would be fun.

"Come on, Laura," he begged. "They need two people to ride it! You'll love it! Come on, it will be so much fun!"

He's also 23, adventurous and undaunted by being jerked upside down over and over. I'm not.

But, I finally gave in. (I say "finally" but the whole process of him convincing me to try the scariest thing in the world actually took all of 20 seconds.)

Soon we were strapped into one of the spinny cars. I tucked my purse into the tiny space between us and prayed its contents wouldn't spill everywhere (they did). Then we began the slow ascent to what I was sure would be our deaths.

We lingered at the tallest part of the ride for awhile, just hanging there. That part I actually enjoyed. We pointed out things at the fair below we wanted to try next.

Suddenly we were plunging and spinning our way to the ground.

And we were jerked back up again. Then down, then up again, and in circles both forward and backward. It's like being flung in every direction at the same time, and going up and down over and over too.

All I could do was scream.

"Please stop, please stop, please stop," I shouted each time we passed the ground.

Finally, we did stop. My brother, laughing, said, "See, you loved it!" He'd had the time of his life and wanted to know what we were riding next.

"Nothing!" I told him, trying to regain my balance. But he disagreed. Next on the agenda was the mini roller coaster.

The afternoon lightened up, of course. We saw some cute animals and spent some time letting them lick our hands at the petting zoo. Now I'm home, I've taken off my shoes and have resorted to the comfort of my computer.

But that ride, the Zipper, still haunts me.

Want to go to the fair? Here's when it's open:

Fair Dates and Times

Tuesday, 11 a.m.–10 p.m.

Wednesday, noon–10 p.m.

Thursday, noon-10 p.m.

Friday, noon–10 p.m.

Saturday, 11 a.m.–10 p.m.

Sunday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.